Thursday, February 26, 2009

This is going to be long! I am mostly writing it for myself so I don't forget the details sometime down the road. And per request of Hilla.. you had no idea what you were getting yourself into : ) If you choose to read this, WARNING: I lost my freakin' mind!

I had lost my car keys and blamed it on preggy-brain. Jake goes to work before me and gets off after me so I was just going to drop him off and pick him back up using his car. Brilliant. On the way he made me laugh pretty hard and I thought that I had peed my pants a little bit, sadly this was perfectly normal for me : ) When we got to the shop I hopped out of the car and felt the first big guuuush. Woah! "Jake get back in the car, we're going to the hospital!" He ran inside to grab a towel. It was cold outside and my crotch was steaming, amniotic fluid streamed into my boots... I was secretly hoping that this was just me peeing myself, ha! Sweet Jakey put the towel down and helped me back into the car. It should be noted that he was really great though the whole ordeal and I got pretty mean towards him... oops, sorry Babe!

Anywho, we decided to stop by our house and get some hospital goodies put together. Early-Birdie definitely caught us off guard! Got out of the car and gushed again. I had to laugh when I found and used the tiniest panty-liner known to man. Back in the car and off to St. Luke's... approximately a 2 minute drive from our house. I waddled in, leaving a trail behind me and reached the info desk where 3 dumbasses sat and couldn't tell us where to go. Grrrr! Get to where we need to be and start the checking-in process, I informed Girlie behind the desk that I was leaking all over the carpet and that seemed to speed things up :) We were admitted right away and told that if my water had broken the day before (putting me at 33weeks, 6days) they would have tried to hold off labor but that 34 weeks is the magic date they let you labor and that babies born then generally do very well. I was still worried! I just wished that she would have waited a couple more weeks or even days. The doctor that was on staff said that she wanted Charlotte out within 16 hours (my doc, of course, was on vacation) Doc also said that that if I did not progress on my own that they would want to induce. Ugh. I had planned on a drug free birth and pitocin was my nightmare! Thankfully my body did what it needed to do and I progressed quickly!

I spent my time in the tub and on the birth ball until I felt like all I could do was moan on the floor.. mellow dramatic, I know, but it just gets worse from here : ) This was about the time that our doula arrived. I heart her and am so glad she was there but not even she was taking the pain away. I wanted an epidural. I felt a little guilty straying away from "the plan", never mind, F the plan, I want my epi! After verbally assaulting the anesthesiologist I realized that he was a new best friend. Ahhh, that really took the edge off. I could definitely still feel. I could move my legs and even squat. (There's a pretty image!...ha) My progress slowed down dramatically and I accepted some pitocin to get things movin' again. Woah, from then on it seemed like I was having one big contraction .. a point that I made sure everyone in the birthing room knew. Push, curse, rest, curse, push, rest, curse, push, push, push... welcome beautiful, tiny Charlotte ReeAnn. *sigh* AMAZING! She was immediately placed on my chest and I remember asking her, "Shouldn't you be crying? Why aren't you crying?" She was perfect and doing really well but a team from the NICU needed to check her out. Sweet Charly went with them, Proud Daddy went with Charly and Exhausted Mommy stayed to recover. After dealing with all the fun of after-birth I got to see my mom and the rest of my family and friends who had waited patiently for Charlotte to arrive. I also ate the best tasting sandwich of my life and I don't even like sandwiches! After about 2 hours I was finally wheeled down to the NICU to see the sweet new Daddy and to hold my beautiful girl. *sigh* LIFE IS GOOD!

Charlotte came out sunny-side-up. Instead of her facing my spine like the ideal birthing scenario she was facing my tummy. Babies have a couple of different reflexes while being born and because she was backwards her reflexes were working against us! This explains a lot of the pressure I was feeling and where I was feeling it. Yowza!

I told you that I lost my mind... here's the proof! Quotes from labor and delivery:

All I want to do is take a sh!t, eat dinner and have a bath.""I'm done!""Get the F out of my face.""I am going to barf and then I am going to smack you.""If you can't keep a straight face get the F out of this room." Apparently this was all funny to Jake. It was okay to me that my doc (who came in from vacation!) and doula were both laughing at my antics just not him.At one point Jake asked me to take a drink of water, I told him that I couldn't but before I knew it there was a frickin' bendy straw in my face... I blew bubbles in it :) To which my doula says, "Tara if you have enough energy to be a smart-ass you have enough energy to push this baby out."and my favorite...During the birthing process I was told to reach down and touch my baby (so I would know how close she was). I refused. I said, "I'll flick her... she is the one person in this room I can't be mean to and I'll flick her." Giggles all around the delivery room and the reassurance that I won't flick my baby. I say, "I just don't want to risk it."

Told you I lost my mind! I'm actually not sure that I have since found it but I did get the most perfect little baby girl :) A simple trade and well worth every minute of pregnancy, labor and delivery!

I love to craft! Here are some of my recent projects that were inspired by the world of creative blogs.

This is an easy little no-sew tutu that I made using ribbon and tulle that were originally gift wrap on a present for Charly. I followed a great tutorial here on YouTube and it was so simple that I litterally started and finished it while nursing Charlotte... TMI???

First off, click to enlarge this picture and look at that adorable baby smile!! I made this little cupcake onesie for my little cupcake using freezer paper and fabric paint. It was super easy and turned out great so I am definatly planning on making more. I found the tutorial here.

This was my version of a birthday card for Jake. Each card has a different reason that I love him. It was more time consuming than I had anticipated but well worth it because he loved it. Here's a link.

Here is a picture of Jake's Valentine's Day present. I wrote our vows on all the sides and put some coupons and candies inside... another hit with my hubby : )Click here for the template.

It is so much fun to look at other bloggers creative ideas and put my own spin on them. There are so many more projects out there that I am excited to do soon!

Tuesday, February 24, 2009

This weekend we celebrated Jake's 26th! A bunch of family and friends gathered at Jake's parents house for good food, good times, great company! Jake is the most amazing man and it was really nice to celebrate him with such a special group of people! Here are a couple of pics from the Saturday night.

The birthday boy and his baby. Posin' with Auntie Celeste.

His "girls" as he calls us : )And the whole Bolin Bunch.

Big thanks to all of you that made this such a wonderful night!Love you,

Thursday, February 19, 2009

Charlotte is outgrowing her preemie clothes! It is amazing... as if it just happened overnight : ) I had a special Valenine's Day outfit picked out for her but when we put it on it seemed a little snug so I put her in a heart-themed, newborn-sized outfit and it fit her great! I boxed up some of her preemie stuff. She has graduated to her newborn wardrobe. The clothes she use to swim in seem crazy tiny already! I am so proud of my growing girl!! I'll post pics of the big girl soon.Mwa*

Saturday, February 14, 2009

Thursday, February 12, 2009

I had always planned on cloth diapering Charlotte but once she arrived life seemed too hectic, she seemed too tiny, blah, blah, blah, I had plenty of excuses. I finally threw those excuses out the window and started to cloth diaper my babe. I am super excited and am feeling proud of the switch! I am very fortunate because I was given an easy start from my girlfriend Carrie, she paid for a whole month of diaper service for us! WoW! Nature's Own Diaper Service is a local company and is very convenient! We are allotted 80 cloth diapers per week and a nice diaper pail with a scent disk. They pick up the dirty ones and deliver freshies every week. We will defiantly continue with the cloth diapers but I think that I will buy a stash of our own and start laundering them myself eventually. Nature's Own charges $17/week which I think is pretty reasonable... I'm not sure how this compares to buying disposables so any mama's who read this please let me know what you think! Charlotte's bottom has never been happier : ) Thanks a million Carrie!

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

Charlotte is growing and changing all the time. She has been spending a lot more time awake and loves to stretch, kick her legs and flail her arms. Today while Charlotte and I were playing she randomly started to squeal... not a familiar squeal either and one that definitely had an edge of pain in it. I quickly "surveyed the scene" (EMT talk... haha) and noticed that she had a big handful of her own hair was and pulling! Poor little thing had no idea what was happening to her. The second I broke her grip she was a happy camper again : ) I included this picture to show her beautiful head of hair, which is apparently very grab-able and because I think it is socute when she sleeps like this!

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Celeste is here!! Auntie Celeste lives in Paris and booked her flight to meet Charlotte when she was still growing in Mama's tummy. We all thought Charlotte was coming in February so that is when Auntie's trip home was scheduled. Charly couldn't wait that long to see the world so Celeste patiently waited more than a month and finally got to meet her niece last night! They adored each other instantly. Celeste spent a couple hours visiting with me and Jake. We have all missed her sooo much! She loved, held, fed, changed and dressed her little niece. It was so great! At one point while I was holding my baby girl and chatting with Celeste we caught Charlotte just gazing towards the sound of her auntie's voice.It was really special! Celeste will be here for a bit of time so expect pics of these lovely ladies hangin' together soon : )

Wednesday, February 4, 2009

We had such a fun time yesterday with the photographer Jennifer. She was fantastic! She is a very talented photographer as well as a nurse at the NICU so we felt very comfortable with her handling our precious girl. We will be getting a disk with a bunch of pictures soon but until then you can see some of these great pics on Jennifer's blog. http://jenlschow.bigfolioblog.com

You will see that in most of the shots Charlotte is a nudey girl and that gave us some hilarious moments not suitable for film : ) Charly pooped on a couple of blankets/props and on her Dad! She also peed all over Daddy.. ha ha! He was great about it though. (he is basically great about everything) Smiled through it all. The photo session was an amazingexperience and the pictures I have seen so far are beautiful! Best birthday present ever!!Thanks Mom and Dad.

Tuesday, February 3, 2009

We have taken hundreds of pictures of Charlotte! Today we are looking forward to our newborn photo session with a professional. My parents got me this photo session for my birthday and I am sooo excited! The photographer is coming to our home today to take artsy pics of Charlotte and some with all three of us. I will post some of these sure to be great pictures when we get them : ) Here are a couple of shots that Daddy and I have captured recently.

Monday, February 2, 2009

I just celebrated my first birthday as a mommy and a wife. The Big 2-5. It was so fantastic! Jake took care of Charlotte's early morning feed so that I could sleep in a couple of extra hours and then woke me up with a yummy breakfast. I enjoyed the day with my daughter at home and when Jake came home he made us another amazing meal: Hazelnut encrusted halibut with rosemary mashed potatoes and asparagus. Mmmmm! I am already looking forward to my 26th and hoping to get a repeat : ) Our family came over after dinner and enjoyed birthday cake and ice cream. My mom was feeling sick and decided to keep her virus away from our tiny girl.. she was sooo missed but I really appreciate her being so thoughtful of Charlotte. I am such a blessed woman to have the family that I do. Thank you all! My birthday wish has already come true!